Cool and Moist Weather Forecasted on the Steamboat Creek Fire

Copper Center, AK: Small amounts of precipitation continue to fall each evening and throughout the day on the Steamboat Creek Fire, causing no change in the growth of the fire. The acreage has changed and decreased, however, due to more accurate mapping, at 19,719 acres. In the last 24 hours the fire area has received 0.05 inches of rain. The forecast continues to call for showers and cooler weather, which will deter fire growth. A small interagency incident management organization will continue to monitor the fire with aviation and fire resources. With very little change in the fire, news releases will diminish to every other day.

Since the fire is located in National Park lands, it’s being managed for resource benefits all while allowing for public and firefighter safety. Because fire is a natural occurrence on the landscape, fire personnel will not extinguish the fire. In many ecosystems wildland fire is an important natural process. In fire-dependent ecosystems, many plants and animals cannot survive without the cycles of fire to which they are adapted. If all fire is suppressed, fuel may build up, making hotter, more destructive fires inevitable. National Park Service policy emphasizes managing fire in a holistic way. This means planning for destructive wildfires and promoting the use of fire as a land management tool where appropriate. The goal is to restore and maintain fire’s role as a dynamic and necessary natural process where it is beneficial, and preventing or suppressing fire where it has the potential to damage resources. For more information, photos and maps on the Steamboat Creek Fire please visit: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4867/

On July 25, 2016 the Steamboat Creek Fire smolders in the Chakina River drainage. Photo credit: Dub Evans, AK Division of Forestry

The Steamboat Creek Fire smoldered near the Chakina River on July 25, 2016. Photo credit: Dub Evans, AK Division of Forestry

The Steamboat Creek Fire burned unevenly across the landscape and left some areas unburned on July 25, 2016. Photo credit: Dub Evans, AK Division of Forestry